The Apartment, Part II

The apartment's Living Room as decorated
by Robert Denning for Marlene and Spencer Hays.

First, it must be explained that The Devoted Classicist has been planning for quite some time to do a series of posts on a particularly attractive Manhattan apartment and how it has been furnished by different owners.  A recent post by blogger, author, and speaker extraordinaire, Jennifer Boles on The Peak of Chic presented the apartment as furnished by what we will call the first owner.  So this, the apartment as decorated for the second owners, is being published out of sequence for this blog, but it will be a logical sequence in the end, hopefully.


The barrel-vaulted and mirrored Entrance Hall
is lined with paintings and drawings by Utrillo,
Ingres, Forain, Pissarro, and Matisse.

The apartment first came to the attention of The Devoted Classicist when it was published as the residence of the current owner, David Kleinberg, a friend and former co-worker at Parish-Hadley.  (A preview of Part III of this series featuring David's décor may be seen in a previous post here).  David had mentioned that it had earlier been decorated by the firm, Denning & Fourcade, his former employer.  These photos by Durston Saylor appeared in the September, 1994, issue of Architectural Digest which reveal the interior design implemented Robert Denning.  (Vincent Fourcade died in 1992 and Robert Denning in 2005).


The Library walls are paneled with elements
of a coromandel screen, repurposed by
the previous occupant.

At the time, the apartment was a pied-a-terre for Nashvillians Marlene and Spencer Hays.  (Selections from their art collection were exhibited at the Musee d'Orsay this summer.  Although the museum text associated with the exhibition reports that their New York apartment was decorated by Renzo Mongiardino [who died in 1998], these photos, showing a décor very much in the style of Denning & Fourcade, would indicate that his involvement with the Hayses would have been later).  The AD article noted that Marlene Hays had Robert Denning in mind during the two years she searched for a suitable apartment for displaying their art and entertaining.  Of the decorator she said, "At first, I thought some of his ideas were crazy, and I'd wonder.  All these mirrors for example.  But they turned out to be a perfect setting for our pictures.  What he suggests always works."


A drawing and a gouche by Pissarro
are displayed on an Empire table in a
corner of the Library.

The 15 x 30 foot Living Room needed lightening and brightening, according to the article, to create a proper background for the art.  Denning repainted the framework of paneling a slightly different green, gilded the moldings, and upholstered the inset panels with printed linen from Brunschwig & Fils who also supplied the tapestry border on the ceiling, a hold-over from the previous occupant.  Two nineteenth-century Savonnerie rugs were cut to cover the floor as a foundation for the mix of Biedermeier, Empire, and Regency furniture.


Jules Emile Saintain's La Menagere, 1866,
hangs over the secretaire a abattant in
the Master Bedroom.

Just as memorable of a room is the Library, paneled with a cut-up black and gold cormandel screen by the previous owner.  Denning added his signature touches with the ceiling upholstered in a floral fabric and a Belle Epoque style light fixture featuring three elaborately pleated and ruffled silk shades.


The bed in the Master Bedroom was made
from a pair of four-poster beds from the
Delano estate.

The Master Bedroom features an eight-poster (!) Louis XIV style bed created from twin beds that Denning refashioned and provided with fringed hangings.  The walls are covered with a Cowtan & Tout chintz and the windows have a yellow striped taffeta festoon blind, a lace shade, and mirrored shutters.  "Rich fabrics soften the master bedroom," says Denning in the article written by Aileen Mehle.


Small sculptures by Maillol and Daumier
are displayed on shelves in the hall
outside the Dressing Room.

The Dressing Room has walls covered in a Clarence House chintz and a ceiling (not visible in the photo) upholstered in a mustard colored moire to conform to the pyramid shape.  The adjacent hall has concealed doors in the form of bookcases faced with false books.

Parts I and III, showing the decoration by the previous and the subsequent owners will appear in future posts of The Devoted Classicist.

Concealed Doors: Gunnebo

In Christina Hall's bedchamber, the concealed door allows a strict accordance of Neoclassical symmetry.

The Devoted Classicist loves traditional architectural features and concealed doors are high on the list of contributions to making a home a classic design.  Almost all of the new houses and major renovations by John Tackett Design include at least one concealed door it seems, sometimes a necessary feature to ensure a pleasing balance within an interior space.  As a point of reference, these doors are sometimes referred to as "gibb" or "jib" doors, but The Devoted Classicist prefers to reserve that terminology for the double hung windows that have hinged panels below that open to allow access as a doorway.

Wallpaper painted in green and white stripes imitates silk wallhangings.  The concealed door disguised access to Chistina Hall's wardrobe which was later converted into a library.

Gunnebo is a magnificent country manor near Molndal, Sweden, built for John Hall, one of the country's wealthiest merchants, and his wife Christina. Starting with a commission in 1784 with Carl Wilhelm Carlberg, the city architect of Gothenburg, it took 12 years to build and cost 38 barrels of gold, the equivalent of 7,000 times the architect's annual salary.


Although used as a summer house, Gunnebo is also noted for the remarkable heating stoves.  Here Christina Hall's bed is a fine example of a lit imperial in the Gustavian style.

The main house, outbuildings, series of formal gardens, unique custom furnishings, and sculpture were not only original but avante-garde, anticipating the great enthusiasm for the Neoclassical styles that became fashionable following the excavations at Pompeii and Herculaneum.  King Gustav III brought in French architect Louis-Jean Desprez in 1784 launching a clamour in Sweden for the Gustavian interpretation of the Classics, usually using painted wood to achieve the desired effects.

The southern elevtion of Gunnebo features a sheltered carriage entrance.

John Hall, Jr, had no interest or training in his father's trading company business, and the fortunes dwindled rapitdly after his father's death in 1802.  After selling the town house, Gunnebo was held as collateral against debts in 1818.  After the fall into what has been described as a sleeping beauty experience, the whole estate has been restored in an on-going process with funding from the European Union with a social services program that offers internships and jobs to re-educate craftsmen in forgotten techniques. 



In John Hall's bedroom, the bed is placed in an alcove flanked with concealed door cupboards.

An impressive history of Gunnebo has been preserved in Christina Hall's letters and inventories as well as the comple set of the architect's meticulous drawings.

The concealed door in the bedroom of John, Jr, is shown slightly ajar.  The bed is original, with replacement textiles that follow the architect's drawings.

 The Devoted Classicist will take this opportunity to also present another favorite conceit, the false door.  The complete opposite idea of a concealed door, the false door creates balance where no opening is needed except for aesthetic reasons.

A false door provides symmetry in the upper vestibule whose original wallpaper survives intact.

All photographs shown here are by Eric Morin for The World of Interiors magazine.  For more information on Gunnebo and their programs, visit the website at http://gunneboslott.se/.